Supporting stand for instruments

ABSTRACT

A SUPPORTING STAND FOR INSTRUMENTS COMPRISING A FRAME AND A FIXED HORIZONTAL SHAFT IN THE FRAME. A PLURALITY OF CLAMPING SLEEVES ARE SECURED TO INDIVIDUAL LEVERS PIVOTABLE ON THE SHAFT. THE SHAFT IS PROVIDED WITH FLATTENINGS FOR HOLDING THE LEVERS, WHICH ARE PROVIDED WITH INTERIORLY LOADED STAY ELEMENTS, IN REST OR HORIZONTAL POSI-   TION OR IN TILTED RAISED POSITION. THE STAND IS ADAPTED TO FIT IN A CASE PROVIDED WITH CLOSABLE OPENINGS FOR ACCESS OF STERILIZING MEDIUM.

Feb. 23, 1971 v DOLD 3,564,662

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Feb. 23, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 0 3,564,662 SUPPORTING STAND FOR INSTRUMENTS Max Dold, Freiburg, Germany, assignor to Fma. F. L. Fischer, Freiburg, Germany Filed Sept. 5, 1968, Ser. No. 757,689 Claims priority, application Germany, Sept. 9, 1967,

32,7597 Int. Cl. A61] 3/02 US. Cl. 21-84 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A supporting stand for instruments comprising a frame and a fixed horizontal shaft in the frame. A plurality of clamping sleeves are secured to individual levers pivotable on the shaft. The shaft is provided with flattenings for holding the levers, which are provided with interiorly loaded stay elements, in rest or horizontal position or in tilted raised position. The stand is adapted to fit in a case provided with closable openings for access of sterilizing medium.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a supporting stand for instruments for storing and making ready a set of instruments.

Instrument sets of this kind, such as used, for example, by eye specialists, are frequently arranged tightly in order to save space. This makes it difiicult to pick up an individual instrument. It is also dangerous, since the instrument may collide with the other instruments and damage these. To remedy such a situation there is known a stand in which the instrument set is raised, so that the individual instrument may be removed. This is disadvantageous because the raised instruments are still arranged tightly with one another.

It is, therefore, the object of the present invention to provide a stand of the above-mentioned character which will make possible a simple and certain preparation of an individual instrument, while conserving storage space.

To accomplish this object it is proposed, according to the invention, to provide a supporting stand for instruments characterized by swingable levers provided with clamping sleeves, which may be limited individually about a limited angle, together with the instruments held therein. The danger of collision between, and damage to the instruments when removing these is thereby obviated. The removal of an instrument is also simplified, since the selected, raised instrument is freely accessible.

Advantageously, the raising angle may be 75 and limited by a stop. Uncontrolled upward movements are thus advantageously prevented, so that injury to the hand of the person removing the instrument, due to an undesired upward movement, is prevented. Advantageously, the stand may be arranged in a case having openings provided with sliding covers for the access of sterilizing substances, for example, hot air or steam. The stand may be further provided with a hand grip for removing and inserting it in the case. The set of instruments can thus be sterilized in a simple manner in its supporting stand and in its storage case.

The lower portion of the swingable lever or clamping sleeve may be of such a length that it advantageously con- 3,564,562 Patented Feb. 23, 1971 'ice tacts the bottom of the case when said lever is moved into its highest angular position, said bottom acting as a stop. When using the stand without the case, any surface on which the stand is placed may also act as a stop.

The clamping sleeve may have projecting nose at its portion which is to be depressed, to make its servicing easier. Advantageously, the upper side of the clamping sleeve extending from the nose may be fashioned as a leaf spring which provides the clamping force.

The swingable levers may have internal springs, which are tensioned at said swingable levers by frontal screws and press a stay element against the shaft bearing the swingable lever. The shaft may be provided with flattenings for the stay elements in the rest position or when in the raised position. The servicing of the supporting stand is thus further improved.

The clamping sleeve may advantageously consist of U-shaped sheet metal, its one shank secured to the swinging lever by means of screws, the other shank forming a flat spring with the nose and when it is open sideways, whereby its laterally bent sides serve as side guides. Such a clamping sleeve can advantageously be made simply and as one piece.

A further advantageous development of the invention, which improves the utility of the stand, resides in the provision a support stand for receiving double-shank instrument which are held in a spread position by a spring means. The lower U-shank of the clamping sleeve is constructed as a forwardly flanged supporting arm elongated in the direction of the instrument, said arm being provided with an upwardly directed bend having a fork-like recess for holding the instruments shank. Tweezers, syringes and the like may then lie placed in such a stand, while saving space. Advantageously, many instruments employed in various fields of medicine may be stored, while saving space.

The improvement will be described in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal section of the device,

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the device and the case, on an enlarged scale,

FIG. 3 is a section through the swingable lever and the clamping sleeve,

FIG. 4 is a front view of the swingable lever,

FIG. 5 is a view of the lever in raised position with the clamping sleeve in contact with the base serving as a stop.

FIG. 6 is a section taken on line VIIVII of FIG. 7,

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the instrument stand without a case,

FIG. 8 is an enlarged front view of a supporting arm for double shank instruments, and a section of such an instrument taken on line VIIIVIII of FIG. 7.

The supporting stand for instruments, generally indicated as 1 is arranged in a case 2, shown in dotted lines. This case 2 may have openings provided with closing slides (not shown) for access of sterilizing substances. The instruments 3 in the stand 1 can thus be sterilized together.

The stand 1 has swingable levers 4, provided with clamping sleeves 5. These clamping sleeves 5 grip the ends 3a of the instruments 3, one of which is shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2, for the sake of simplicity. The swingable levers pivot on a lever shaft 6. It is thus possible to raise individually each swingable lever 4 with the instrument 3 held in its clamping sleeve, whereby the instruments 3 may be removed in a simple and certain manner.

FIG. 5 shows that the highest angle of elevation is about 75. This prevents an uncontrolled elevation, whereby damage to the instruments is prevented. It will be particularly noted that the lower part of the clamping sleeve 5 is of such length that it contacts the bottom 7 of the case 2. This bottom also serves as a stop for the clamping sleeve 5.

A handgrip 8 is provided for the stand 1, which facilitates the removal of the stand 1 from the case 2. When the stand is used without the case, any supporting surface on which it is placed servesas a stop for limiting of the elevation of the clamping sleeve 5.

The clamping sleeves 5 have, on their lowest portion, a protruding nose 9, which facilitates the raising of the individual clamping sleeves and the instruments held therein, since it provides a good bearing for a finger which may press down on it.

In the described embodiment, the upper side 10 of the clamping sleeve 5 is constructed as a flat spring for effecting the clamping action on the instrument 3. It will be noted, in particular, that the clamping sleeve in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 has lateral openings. The clamping sleeve 5 consists of U-shaped sheet metal, whose one U-shaped shank 5a is secured to the swingable 4 by screws 11 and the other U-shank 5b forms the flat spring provided with the nose 9. A soft spring effect is thus possible, so that the resistance to the removal of the instrument is slight. Flanges 12 are provided on the shank 5a, and these serve as side guides for the instruments 3.

The stand 1 is further provided with recesses 13, in a rail 14 for inserting the instrument points. Both the rails 14 and the shafts 6 are supported in a U-shaped frame 15, forming the stand 1.

It will be noted in FIG. 3 that the sWinging levers 4 are provided interiorly with a spring 16 which is tensioned by means of screw 17 and presses a stay element 18 against the swinging levers shaft. The swinging levers shaft is provided with flattenings 19 for engaging with the stay element 18 in both rest and raised positions. The flattening may however be dispensed with since the stay element 18 exerts a sufficient braking effect on the shaft 6 to prevent an undesired falling back of the instruments 3 when in the rest position; however, the instruments are more secure in the raised position when flattenings 19 are provided. The flattenings are particularly advantageous when transporting the instruments.

A further embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 6 to 8. The stand may likewise be insertable in a case (not shown). Double-shank spring-tensioned instruments, such as tweezer 3a or a needle holder 3b may be inserted in the frame, while saving space. These instruments 3a and 3b are shown in dotted lines in FIGS. 6 and 7.

The stand, in FIGS. 6 and 7, is also provided with a swingable lever 4 and a shaft 6 with flattenings 19. A slightly modified handgrip 8a engages in the recesses. The clamping sleeves 105 which are secured on the lever 4 are likewise provided with pressure keys or noses 9. They are specially constructed to hold double-shank instruments.

The lower U-shaped shank 105a is designed as a supporting arm S elongated in the direction of instruments 3a, 3b. This arm has on its free end an upwardly extending flange 106 with a fork-like recess 107 for holding together the instrument shanks. It will be noted, in FIGS. 7 and 8, this recess 107 in the flange 106 extends in semi-circular form into the support arm 6. FIG. 8 illustrates how a pair of shanks of an instrument 3a are held together by the recess 107, against the force of the spring which biases them apart. Advantageously, the offset instruments, according to FIGS. 6, can be easily placed in the stand and save space. Particularly advantageous is that the instrument requiring space when spread, is closed 4 by means of the recesses 107 on the support arms S. It will be noted that the support arms S rest, with their free ends on a bar-like screw 14a when the swingable levers 4- abut a similar screw 14b. The individual instruments can be raised from this position as shown in FIG. 5.

It will also be noted that the clamping sleeves have side clamp springs 108. These improve the stationary positioning of the double-shank instruments, the spreading springs which converge at the instrument ends.

The novel supporting stand makes possible the storing and preparation of an instrument set in a simple and certain manner, while the instruments can be arranged very close to one another. In particular, an instrument can be individually raised and removed, without colliding with other instruments. Furthermore, the entire instrument set can be sterilized in its storage case. All the features and constructional details can be employed individually or in any desired combination.

I claim:

1. Supporting stand for instruments, comprising a frame, a fixed horizontal shaft secured in said frame, a plurality of clamping means pivotably mounted on said shaft for clamping one end of instruments and a rail secured in said frame parallelly spaced from said shaft for supporting another end of instruments.

2. Supporting stand as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of said clamping means comprises a lever swingable on said shaft and a clamping sleeve secured to said lever.

3. Supporting stand asset forth in claim 2, wherein said sleeve is a substantially U-shaped, horizontally disposed, flat strip of springy material formed with vertically extending flanges serving as side guides for an instrument clamped in said sleeve.

4. Supporting stand as set forth in claim 3, wherein the free open end of each said sleeve is directed towards said rail, the closed end of the sleeve being formed with a key-like upwardly extending portion for depressing said lever downwardly, said closed end being dimensioned to contact a supporting surface for said frame when said lever is pivoted 75 about said shaft.

5. Supporting stand as set forth in claim 4, wherein said shaft is formed with a pair of flattenings extending longitudinally thereof, each of said levers having a bore therein, a stay element and a spring in said bore for biasing said stay element against one of said respective fiattenings, for holding the lever in rest or inclined raised position, respectively.

6. Supporting stand for instruments as in claim 1, further provided with a case adapted to receive said stand, said case having walls provided with openings for admitting sterilizing medium, slides displaceable on said walls for closing said openings and a carrying handle for said case.

7. Supporting stand for instruments, comprising a frame, a fixed horizontal shaft secured in said frame, a plurality of clamping means individually pivotably mounted on said shaft for clamping one end of instruments, and a pair of spaced bars for normally supporting said clamping means in horizontal position.

8. Supporting stand as set forth in claim 7, wherein said shaft is formed with a pair of flattenings extending longitudinally thereof, each of said clamping means having a bore therein, a stay element and a spring in said bore for biasing said stay element against one of said respective fiattenings, for holding the clamping means in rest or inclined raised position.

9. Supporting stand for instruments as in claim 7 further provided with a case adapted to receive said stand, said case having walls provided with openings for admitting sterilizing medium, slides displaceable on said walls for closing said openings and a carrying handle for said case.

10. Supporting stand as set forth in claim 7, wherein the free open end of each said sleeve is formed with an upwardly extending flange having a cutout fork-like portion for receiving a pair of shanks of a double-shanked instrument, for preventing the pair of shanks from spreading apart.

11. Supporting stand as set forth in claim 10, wherein each of said sleeves is provided with a pair of vertically extending spring elements for clamping and holding a pair of ends of a spring-loaded double shank instrument.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6 FOREIGN PATENTS 999,475 10/1951 France 206-175 545,159 6/1956 Italy 20616 814,319 9/1951 Germany 21105 JOSEPH SCOVRONEK, Primary Examiner D. G. MILLMAN, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

